Wiped Out on My Motorcycle

I just got bike from one the greatest times ever.  That is the Ohio River behind my bike.  So how did I get wiped out?

I was following  behind John Duhnovsky, Jim Howard, and Gary Leary and enjoying the hills and curves.  I was so impressed with the foliage, the corn and bean fields and all of the beauty that was around me.  I was thinking how crazy evolution is that says somehow this just happened.  I started to thank God for the enjoyment of the bike ride in such an awesome setting.  THEN IT HAPPENED, THE WIPEOUT.

It is not what you think.  The Holy Spirit must have jumped on my bike.  He just wiped me out.  I was overcome with joy and emotion.  I was so overwhelmed with what God has prepared for us.  We think of God as the Creator from the book of Genesis.  He impressed on me that even the machine that I was on and the farmer’s combine and the houses that I saw were all a part of His creation. 

His Wisdom is so creative and available to man.  Even those who have taken the glory for the inventions were under his creative Wisdom.    He has done this for us because He loves us.  We want to think how good we are at something when actually we are only tapping into God’s Wisdom.  He is still Creating; beautiful cars, homes, jobs, people, children, nature, machines and everything that we see, feel or smell.

We could be unsaved, reject Christ, and full of self and still tap into His Creative Genius because He still loves us.

Yes this was probably the biggest motorcycle wipeout I have ever had and I have had my share.

Facebook, Texting, and God

Just had to share this with you.  We left Tulsa when Heath was 10.  He had a lot of neighborhood buddies.  They would ride Big Wheel bikes and hunt frogs from daylight till dark.  On of his buddies was a kid named Brad.  Heath had made an effort through Facebook to contact him and sent me a note that I may want to become friends with Brad.  My heart leaped. Of course I want to Facebook Brad and invited him to become my friend.  Here is the rest of the story.

Brad sent me a great note back saying that he moved to PA when he was in highschool.  He went on to college at Pitt, did medical research and ended up a Christian Lawyer.  He is now married and has two boys Joshua and Caleb.  Wow, was I excited to reconnect with that little boy who was impacting his area For Christ.

This is not the greatest high point for me.  Here is a qoute from his Facebook response, “I thank God every day that my family had your family during a difficult time in our lives. Even though things did not go well in the end my Mom fondly remembers your family and was thrilled to hear that I was able to talk to Heath again.  Like I said to him, it is truly amazing what we can do today with communications. Just to think that not so long ago people like us would probably never have the chance to meet again on this Earth…..what a blessing.”

The exciting thing for Sandy and I was an update on some counseling and encouragement we gave to a hurting mother over twenty years ago.  Even though the marriage didn’t survive, Bradly did and has a great future.

Here is the take away.  Leaders and Christians don’t feel like you efforts are lost when you help or reach out and the results don’t look so victorious.  We found out 25 years later that we had a very small part, maybe significant part, in shaping the future of a great young family.  If not for Facebook we would have never known the end of the story.  Be encourage, what you do for Christ is eternal and never wasted.

TRANSFORMATION

Wow what a week at Church of the Heartland.  Thanks to all who have helped us be able to make the move next week to our NEW SANCTUARY.  Here is a recap.  KWAM doesn’t just have a new room.  It is not only updated with the lastest technology,  it is fun and inviting.  We truly love children and this room shows that love.  THANK YOU HEARTLANDERS who helped Pastor Chris pull off this miracle.

The sanctuary has all new ceiling and lighting.  We have installed the latest lighting control system that control all 72 new recessed ceiling lights.  The new stage lighting is awesome.  Check out the awesome sound both.

Things are also different as you enter the church.  First if you enter the door on the right, you will enter our new coffee lounge.  We expect ministry and great fellowship to take place in this new comfortable lounge.  Check out the new banneres, chairs and tables.  The coffee lounge is called Ugly Mugs Extention.  It is patterned and named after our successful coffee shop at our South Bend Campus.  We will be serving Ugly Mugs great coffees like its Kona.  Ugly Mugs Extention will be open one hour to before and after service.  Come check it out.

Oh, by the way,  every wall has been painted with such sharp vibrant colors.  It truly says, “Let’s do life together.”

Thanks Heartlands for pulling this off.  What a miracle.

Back to Church Sunday

At Church of the Heartland, we are really excited about Back to Church Sunday! We’re tired of our friends and family slipping away from God and are ready to partner with Him to get them back.

Church of the Heartland is gearing up for Back to Church Sunday: As millions of Americans head back to school, organizers of a new faith-based outreach campaign hope that millions more will come back to church as well. The “Back to Church Sunday” campaign makes it easy for church members to invite their friends and family by creating a worship service specifically geared toward visitors.

The program kicks off with national “Back to Church Sunday” on Sept.13 aimed at reaching the “un-churched” and “de-churched”- people who used to go to church, but don’t any more. The campaign is based on a simple idea. If you ask un-churched people to come with you to church-mostly likely they’ll say yes.

LifeWay Research found that 82 percent of un-churched people surveyed said that they’d be open to visit a church, if a friend or family member invited them. Unfortunately, said Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay, few church members invite their friends and neighbors. “Only two percent of church members invite an un-churched person to church,” he says. “Ninety-eight percent of churchgoers never extend an invitation in a given year.”

Come on Church of the Heartland – let’s all invite someone on September 13th!

Ski Run Bike Ride

Wow what a successful ride.  Raised moneyfor a great cause, had a great time.  The breakfast was awesome; pancakes with fruit, eggs, saugage, apple and orange juice.  I figured it would be successful if we had 25 riders.  We ended up with 45 bikes, many with riders.  Mayor Mark Senter joined us for breakfast.  Thank you mayor.  The police escort through was awesome.  The bikes took up 3/4 to 1 mile long.

Hemi took us on the most awesome ride through great scenic area of Marshall and Starke County.  The games played at Bass Lake was like playing like a little kid but using motorcycles.  Would you believe Playing Cornhole using a motorcycle?    I was just blown away with the Motorcyle Museum at Kerstings.  I figured it would be rinky dink.  It was amazing.  I guess he has over 2 to 3 million dollars worth of antigue bikes.  I could has spent the rest of the day there.

Now top this off with more games, hog roast, live band and skeet shooting. 

THANK YOU BIKER CHURCH OF THE HEARTLAND.  YOU ARE A GREAT GROUP OF AWESOME PEOPLE.

Letting Stuff In

I recieved this from Assistant Pastor of COTH Plymouth Gary Leary and thought you might enjoy  Herb

Gary Leary wrote;  I am revisiting a spiritual landmark that I was challenged to study way back in 1997. It is called the “Gateways”, and the Lord has challenged me to revisit this area again.

I was blessed to have a friend and evangelist from Hastings, New Zealand bring this teaching to the church I pastured in Torrance California. Ian Clayton broke this teaching during a conference we were hosting, and it struck a resounding chord in us all.

I took several days away to really study this out, so I made a mini retreat for myself, and for three days, it was just me and the Lord and Ian’s teaching notes. And I came away from that retreat time a changed person.Like everything else, if we do not guard our spirit, some things tend to slip from the forefront of our attention, without us even realizing that we have drifted in our focus. So, the Lord has gently reminded me that I need to once again take the time to make this an integral part of me. 

The difference this time around is that I feel directed to embellish the Gateways with a in-depth study of the basic fundamentals behind each gateway. So, this is what I will do. 

Simply put, we are a tripartite being, like God in His trinity. The difference is where He is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we are body, soul and spirit. Each one of these aspects have gates through which we perceive the world and God. If our perception is wrong, then our view and understanding of God is wrong. If we start from the body, our senses mess up our knowledge of Who and what God is. It also confuses our soul, and skews how God can work in and through us, minimizing our impact with those around us. 

If we start with the Spiritual Gateways, then we can see things more from God’s perspective than from a worldly perspective.Our body (soma) gates are the five senses.  Our soul (psueche) gates are such as our conscience, our mind, our emotions, and so forth, and are more geared toward how we think and respond.  The Spiritual gates are such things as our revelation, our faith, our hope and prayerfulness, and have an influence on how our spiritual sensitivity to God and people is tuned. 

So, I am excited about what the Lord is again leading me into. I hope that He is leading you to drink anew of Him and that it excites you as much as this excites me.

Thanks Gary for some good insight.  Herb

Full Circle

Is Euchre Spiritual? 

Several years ago, a close friend of mine in the church, Howard Hickman asked if their small group could play Euchre.  I remember being nervous about my answer.  I stated that I would prefer that they not play cards in the lobby.  Some people had problems with Christians playing cards.  He was so compliant and that was the end of that.  Now what do I believe?

Wow have I changed.  I was afraid that some serious old fashioned Christian might get offended.   I put the law (unspoken rules and regulations) on the whole group.  I actually had the whole church under the law because of my fear of people.  It sure does feel free to enjoy a great night of Christian fellowship with friends.  Friday night we met at friends for a Euchre Party.  Was the sin on the face of the King of Hearts?  Poor guy, maybe it is the joker.  Why do we put such pressure on us to do somethings and not others because of what someone would think.

Here is the take away.  When there is nothing immoral or nothing that invokes bad character, we shoud ask oursleves why something is somehow prohibited.  Let’s ask the Father what He thinks.  I have got to know some Heartlanders in the church better through Euchre than seeing them and talking to them on Sunday morning.   WOW I LOVE FREEDOM.  Let’s be open to the Holy spirit to guide us and not old fashioned rules..  OK, DEAL THE CARDS.

OK let me know what you think.   Are there any other sacred cows out there tromping down your tomato plants?

Old man, New man

Pastor Herb has been preaching on the awesome grace of God, and has enough “ammunition” to take us through the summer with this theme. Sometimes his messages make one have to respond with “ouch!”. As in “hit a nerve”.

This past week was one in which I was reminded that there is still a lot of the “old man” left in this old man.  My world is not one that easily revolves in the electronic cosmos. I lost my IPod somewhere between Missouri and home during our recent motorcycle trip. This necessitated getting a replacement, since it is my “Juke Box” on long rides. This also meant that I had to reload the almost 20 hours of music on the new IPod. Hence began the saga that opened up the old man’s nature. 

I am a very patient individual…in most cases.  But electronic stuff frustrates me.  Those electrons disappear into the ether, and are untraceable…at least to me. I had a revelation that I needed to reload ITunes on the PC to start the whole process.  In the midst of this, Microsoft started to download “updates”, which then sabotaged my pc, and it stopped responding to me. (Did I anger it, somehow)? This led to the necessity to reload my operating system onto my Dell laptop.

I said I’m technically challenged, right?  Instead of just reloading Vista, I goofed up and completely reloaded it, wiping out everything on the laptop. Once I (eventually) reloaded other programs and files back in, it stopped letting me on the net. Can we say increased frustration?

My normally patient demeanor soured into a morose, bummed out old dude, with a sour disposition. I may have rather stayed in bed, covered up my head and remained there until the rapture. What I did not need was more frustration.  What I really needed was a cart-load of grace.  Not ordinary grace, mind you, but grace right from the throne! Special dispensational grace.  The kind that covers up your naked, boorish, natural-man attitudes.

God blessed me with a great brother, with infinite understanding and tolerance for an electronic ignoramus, and pulled me out of the fire, got me on the web again, and exhibited abundant grace to me. And I was so prolifically reminded that I still have a carnal nature that is not entirely (or even maybe, a bit less than perfectly???) redeemed. 

I needed grace.  I needed reminded that grace was available, and that there are still large deposits of the “old man” lurking within this man.

Thank you Pastor Herb for bringing us to the place of remembering that we are saved, but still being saved!

Gary Leary,Assistant Pastor, Church of the Heartland Plymouth

Kids Camp

THROUGH THE EYES OF A CHILD:

This was a life changer. Awesome Praise and Worship, Mud slides, swimming, smores, campfires, treasure hunts, new friends, great food, made this the beginning of the best summer yet. 

 

 THROUGH THE EYES OF A COUNSELOR

 

Spending time with excited boys and girls is the best time I could have spend anywhere. To see children change before my eyes, wow. Can’t wait until next year to be a camp counselor again.

 

 FROM MY EYES 

As the leader and consultants to several pastors and leaders, this was a high point for me. Chris Miller, Church of the Heartland’s lead children and youth leader, was heading to Uganda for a mission’s trip along with 13 others including her husband and son. The mission in Uganda is centered around ministry to children and children’s pastors and leaders. This put Chris as a main speaker and missions leader. I saw a week before camp that Chris was overwhelmed so I volunteered to oversee the camp. I got to watch Leigh Anne Runkle as camp director do an excellent job. The camp was so well organized that everything went smooth with out Chris but with the people that Chris had trained. NOW THIS IS SUCCESS. If an event goes great even in the absence of the main leader.  All I did was observe a great camp.

GREAT WORK CHRIS BUT GREATER WORK TO THE TEAM THAT MADE THIS ALL POSSIBLE.

Thanks for all the great input from the cooks, musicians, counselors, directors and the wonderful kids.

I want to go next year.

Shut Up!

Yeah, that’s what the “world” seems to be saying to Christians. I’ve been noticing lately how nervous Christians are to speak the truth about abortion, homosexuality or any other “touchy” topic. I’m kinda tired of hearing about tolerance, when it seems like the only people who are NOT tolerated are Christians. Do I sound mad? Yeah I guess I am mad. I’ve had a couple of friends recently post notes discussing what the Bible says about sin, and they were blasted with hateful comments. So what do we do? Should we keep our mouths shut?

A friend just told me today that she posted a status about one of these “touchy” topics & didn’t get any comments but she posted a status about what color to dye her hair & she was flooded with comments. So I guess as long as we talk about hair color & other “important” things, that we’re ok.

I know I normally post happier notes than this. So here are my final thoughts:

I love people. Especially people who have been deceived. I only have one enemy. I refuse to shut up. I refuse to stop loving people who disagree me. I will continue to love people & tell them the truth. I’m glad that God will have the final say.

Chris Miller

Next Gen Pastor

Church of the Heartland Plymouth